Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge, known as Blowing Wind Cave NWR until
1999, lies just above the Sauty Creek embayment of TVA’s Guntersville
Reservoir, seven miles west of Scottsboro, Jackson County, Alabama. The refuge
established in 1978, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
to provide protection for the federally endangered gray and Indiana bats and
their crucial habitat consisting of 264 acres of hardwood forest. The cave
provides a summer roosting site for about 300,000 - 400,000 gray bats and a
winter hibernaculum for both bats. There are two entrances into the cave on
the Refuge but they are closed to the public. As a result of the unique
species within the cave, the Alabama Natural Heritage Program ranks the cave's
biodiversity as a site of very high significance.  
  
In addition to the rare fauna within the cave, the federally threatened
Price's potato-bean occurs on the Refuge.

Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge, known as Blowing Wind Cave NWR until 1999, lies just above the Sauty Creek embayment of TVA’s Guntersville Reservoir, seven miles west of Scottsboro, Jackson County, Alabama. The refuge established in 1978, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide protection for the federally endangered gray and Indiana bats and their crucial habitat consisting of 264 acres of hardwood forest. The cave provides a summer roosting site for about 300,000 - 400,000 gray bats and a winter hibernaculum for both bats. There are two entrances into the cave on the Refuge but they are closed to the public. As a result of the unique species within the cave, the Alabama Natural Heritage Program ranks the cave's biodiversity as a site of very high significance.  In addition to the rare fauna within the cave, the federally threatened Price's potato-bean occurs on the Refuge.

Bird's eye view of the park

Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge

Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1981, consists of 199 acres
of forested hillside underlain by a massive cave with many stalactite and
stalagmite-filled rooms. The cave has five hidden entrances with four
occurring on the Refuge. Access to is extremely difficult and has been
described as a vertical and horizontal maze by expert cavers, the cave itself
is closed to protect the sensitive species found within. Horizontal sections
of the cave are known to be more than 15 miles long and vertical drops of 450
feet are found within. Spectacular features including unrivaled formations,
important paleological and archaeological finds, and a diverse cave fauna have
contributed to Fern Cave as being described as the most spectacular cave in
the U.S. and has fame both nationally and internationally.

Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1981, consists of 199 acres of forested hillside underlain by a massive cave with many stalactite and stalagmite-filled rooms. The cave has five hidden entrances with four occurring on the Refuge. Access to is extremely difficult and has been described as a vertical and horizontal maze by expert cavers, the cave itself is closed to protect the sensitive species found within. Horizontal sections of the cave are known to be more than 15 miles long and vertical drops of 450 feet are found within. Spectacular features including unrivaled formations, important paleological and archaeological finds, and a diverse cave fauna have contributed to Fern Cave as being described as the most spectacular cave in the U.S. and has fame both nationally and internationally.

Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge

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Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge